The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology estimates that 2% of adults and 8% of children in the United States are afflicted with food allergies (an estimated total of 7 million Americans according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network). The allergic family represents an estimated $25 billion of grocery spending per year.
Allergies are believed the leading cause of chronic disease in United States, costing the healthcare system about $18 billion dollars annually. It is estimated that 150-200 people die each year from food allergies. Food allergy is believed the leading cause of anaphylaxis outside a hospital setting accounting for approximately 30,000 emergency room visits and 2,000 hospitalizations. The Epinephrine injection is the most effective method of treating anaphylaxis; however in a 1999 study conducted by Mt. Sinai Medical Center, only 32% of 101 parents administered it correctly, and only 21% of physicians administered it correctly.
In a 1999 study by the Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 91 sets of parents were asked to identify products whose ingredients their children must avoid. The most restricted food groups, peanut products and milk products, yielded correct answers in only 54% and 7%, respectively.
Indeed, reading labels to ensure they do not contain any harmful or unwanted product may be a complex and time consuming process. There are more than 30 essentially synonymous terms for milk alone.
Moreover, some labels may identify an ingredient, such as mayonnaise, without specifying its sub-ingredient such as “egg” (while individuals with egg allergies must avoid those products as well).
The NCPI (National Council on Patient Information) estimates that 95% of individuals over 65 (i.e., 32 million Americans) receive daily prescriptions (an average of 2.4 prescriptions per person). This group accounts for 13.4% of the population but accounts for 42% of total outpatient prescription spending.
In a study reported in the Jun. 12, 2002 issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine relating to elderly patients admitted to an urban hospital ER, the average number of prescriptions medications per patient was six. However, only 42% of these patients could correctly identify their medications. Additionally only 15% could identify their medication's indications.
Further, in a long-awaited national study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, (findings released by the FDA Jun. 18, 2002) regarding the distribution and “usefulness” of the medicine leaflets, one of every three leaflets received a low score, “1” or “2”, out of 5, for print size, print quality, line spacing and ease of reading.
Additionally, merely the process of reading food labels may pose great difficulty for the following individuals:                The visually impaired who may strain to read the fine print of nutritional labels.        Individuals whose main language is not English.        Individuals who suffer from learning disabilities, dyslexia, or struggle with literacy.        Any individual who falls under the American with Disabilities Act, ADA, whose manual dexterity compromises their ability to read labels, e.g. those suffering from Parkinson Disease, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, etc.        